Beyond Who I Was

The heart of the spiritual journey and Christian discipleship is the transformation of heart and mind. The theological term for this transformation is sanctification. The more common term is spiritual growth. This transformation is the work of the Spirit of God in our lives (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). The  Spirit is working to grow us into the likeness of Jesus (see Ephesians 4:13-15).

The New Testament writers identified two dimensions of this transformation of heart and mind. Using the imagery of changing clothes, the writer of Ephesians spoke of putting off the old self and putting on a new self "created according to the likeness of God" (see Ephesians 4:22-24).

The old self is who the world shaped me to be. (The world includes the family in which I grew up, the community in which I grew up, the church in which I grew up, the schools I attended, the friends with whom I hung out, the organizations of which I was a member, the country in which I grew up.) The old self embodies the thinking and values, practices and traditions of those multiple shaping influences. Of course, we are totally unaware of these shaping experiences. They are simply life as we have experienced it. The apostle Paul spoke of moving beyond this shaping process in Romans 12:2, "do not be conformed to this world." I like J.B. Phillips translation of this phrase: "don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold." The original language carries the idea of "stop!" The world has already shaped us - what we think, our attitudes, our positions of issues. "Stop letting those influences shape who you are." The transformation of heart and mind involves moving beyond who I was. It is moving beyond who the world shaped me to be. It is allowing the teachings of Jesus to become the primary shaping influence of my life.

The second part of this transformation of heart and mind is allowing my thinking, my attitudes, my relationships to be shaped by who Jesus revealed God to be and the ways of the Kingdom that he taught. J.B. Phillips expressed the idea this way: "let God re-make you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed" (Romans 12:2). This dimension of the transformation involves the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23), that is, learning to think from the perspective of the Kingdom rather than the perspective of the world. It involves putting on the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11). The evidence of this change in thinking is the growing ability to live out of grace and forgiveness. The evidence is the growing ability to live out of a servant spirit that gives freely and generously for the good of another. It is loving as Jesus loved. It is loving who Jesus loved.

During the era of Christendom, the transformation of heart and mind was displaced from being the heart of the spiritual journey. Accepting Jesus so we could go to heaven became the central thrust of evangelical Christianity. That transaction was based on believing that Jesus died on the cross so God would forgive our sins. (That's a topic for another blog.) Belief, church membership, and morals (being a good person who does good things) became the evidence that one had "accepted Jesus as Savior." Bible study and biblical knowledge displaced spiritual growth. The transformation of heart and mind was relegated to being an addendum (if not forgotten). 

When the transformation of heart and mind is no longer the thrust of one's spiritual journey, we default to living the way we have always lived - out of who the world shaped us to be. Our lives, relationships, and lifestyle look more like the world around us than the ways of the Kingdom that Jesus taught. We use scripture to defend what we already think and believe, validating that we are "right." (Remember: it was not that long ago that preachers and church people used scripture to support slavery and deny women a voice or leadership role in the life of the church.) What we already think and believe (have always thought and believed?) becomes the core of our religious life, rather than the teachings of Jesus. In this expression of Christianity, we unconsciously default to self-reliance rather than glad dependency upon God. We "do the best we can" and "try harder to do better," but we seldom move far beyond who the world shaped us to be. 

Spiritual growth - this transformation of the heart and mind - is a process. It is a journey from who I once was to who God is making me to be. Which makes me wonder: could it be time to take another step on that journey?

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," 2 Peter 3:18.